Son #1: Hey, Mom, you know that Love in the Ruins book you gave me?
Me: Yeah?
Son #1: I read it.
Me. (Hopefully) And?
Son #1: It was stupid. I didn’t like it at all.
Me: (Deflated) Oh.
Son #1: But I’m reading The Canterbury Tales now. It’s really good.
(In my own defense: He loved A Confederacy of Dunces , declared it one of the best books he’d ever read. I thought the absurdist/satirical/ but ultimately grounded world of Percy (the man to whom Toole’s mother went with the Dunces manuscript, of course)  would grab him – but I’m thinking it might be a little too time-specific, you know? Percy is satirizing/dealing with two things: Scientism/Materialism and the US of the 60’s and 70’s. If the way he deals with the latter confuses you or puts you off, it’s going to diminish your appreciation of the former…)
Ah, well. Perhaps 14th century satire will go down a little easier….